Tribute to fallen charity bicyclist John Anczarski

Three friends on a cross-country bicycle tour to raise money to fight breast cancer are on their way home without reaching their destination.

They're abandoning the Pink Pedal bike tour they created because the fourth bicyclist, their friend John Anczarski, was struck and killed by a motorist in New Mexico last week.

Supporters of the Pink Pedal bicycle tour project created this video in tribute to their 19-year-old friend's role in the bicycle tour.

Our deepest condolences to the family of John Anczarski and his friends. That was a noble cause they were on, and it's a shame that it ended tragically.

Anczarski was a resident of Ringtown, Pennsylvania, and a student enrolled at the University of Colorado. He and three friends — Travis Brown, Ty Bereskie and Nicholas Gober — set off from their homes in Pennsylvania on a bicycle tour to San Diego last month to raise funds and awareness to fight breast cancer.

The Pink Pedal

It was called “The Pink Pedal: Riding Hard to Fight Breast Cancer” and associated with the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.

Their blog, The Pink Pedal, chronicles the many fund-raising visits they made in towns along their route and some other adventures.

Strong

The four bicyclists were accompanied by a van to carry their gear. Now the three survivors are driving home in that van with family members. David Brown, the father of Travis, told the Republic Herald newspaper:

“They're being strong. I think we all know that there is a lot of support back there, from what we've been hearing, and the boys know it's going to be hard and there will a lot of people who are there for them.”

Anczarski's hometown is holding several events to show their support; a softball tournament and golf fund-raiser are in the works and pew ribbons and pink light bulbs are for sale, according to the Republican Herald.

The Pink Pedal members were about 10 days from reaching their destination.

Tribal land

The collision investigation is being handled by the Bureau of Indian Affairs because it occurred on tribal lands held by the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. The crash occurred near New Laguna, about 45 miles from Albuquerque.

According to a description in the StandardSpeaker.com:

Bereskie said that before the crash Monday, he was about 30 feet ahead of Anczarski, waiting on his friend to catch up because Bereskie had a flat front tire and Anczarski had a pump on his bike. 

“I was standing still on the side of the road and John was riding toward me when I saw the car come riding off the road, onto the apron area, and then he struck John,” Bereskie said.

Bereskie said Anczarski fell from his bike and onto the windshield of the car. The helmet Anczarski was wearing appeared to be pushed back, exposing his head, Bereskie said, and Anczarski seemed to strike his head when he landed on the roadway.

“The car continued toward me off the road, almost struck me and I ran out of the way and moved to the side and then ran toward John. The car swerved back onto the road, continued down the road a way until he turned around, after some time,” Bereskie said.

An off-duty New Mexico police officer also witnessed the crash from nearby and said the driver stopped and was very concerned about what happened.

Subsequent attempts to learn about the crash investigation or drivers' identity from BIA have been fruitless.